The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic mail, and more particularly to a system and method for providing notification of a received electronic mail message to the recipient of the message.
An ever-increasing number of people worldwide have access to the Internet and on-line services via various channels. For example, America On-Line, Prodigy, and others provide subscribers to their services, or end users, with channels of access to the Internet. In most instances, these channels of access also provide some form of electronic mail (e-mail) service as part of their offering of on-line services. In their corresponding e-mail services, when an end user receives an e-mail message at their service provider mailbox, the message remains in the end user""s e-mail message mailbox until the end user calls into the provider and is notified that a message is waiting to be opened. For example, after calling into the provider, a message may appear on the screen saying xe2x80x9cYou have mail.xe2x80x9d Alternatively, an end user, after calling into the provider, may be notified by a voice message, which is provided by triggering a voice prompt located in the end user""s computer. This prompt would generally be downloaded by the end user at the time of registration with the e-mail provider.
Thus, users of these e-mail services only realize that an e-mail message has been received by calling into the service provider. Consequently, unless an end user is currently calling into the service provider when an e-mail message is received, the end user will be unaware of a newly received e-mail message.
Systems and methods consistent with the present invention provide an end user with notification or an alert of a received e-mail message without requiring the end user to call into the e-mail service provider. An end user first registers with an e-mail service to be notified or alerted of a received message. After registering for the notification/alert system, the end user is notified or alerted of the received e-mail message by telephone, voice mail, or a pager. In addition to being notified or alerted, the end user may also receive information regarding the content of the received e-mail message.
A method, consistent with the present invention, for notifying or alerted an end user of a received electronic mail message includes the steps of receiving an electronic mail message for the end user, designating a communication system for notifying or alerting the end user of the received electronic mail message, and notifying or alerting the end user of the received electronic mail message through the designated communication system.
Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description provide examples and explanations only. They do not restrict the claimed invention.